Want to open a brewery? The city of Madras wants to chat

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Madras is looking for brewers, investors and more to open the Central Oregon town's first brewery. The City of Madras is offering incentives and aid to encourage existing breweries to expand or new brewers to get started.(Photo: MOLLY J. SMITH / Statesman Journal file)Buy Photo

Madras, the Jefferson County town with more than 6,200 residents, has no brewery. The Madras Redevelopment Commission wants to change that.

Brew It Madras, the city's new redevelopment campaign is trying to recruit beer nerds and investors to open a brewery and taproom. The city is offering financial assistance and incentives, including financial aid for architecture, permit and renovation costs.

Madras decided to tap brewing talent after the Redevelopment Commission updated its plans in 2006. While working with more than 300 locals, the commission discovered a new brewery was the second most important development goal in the area.

"It doesn’t sound like much, but compared to a larger city, that’s fairly robust community involvement," said Community Development Director Nick Snead. "Their top project was to recruit a department store or general retailer, and their second was to recruit a brewery to an urban renewal district."

A few interested brewers have reached out to Snead, but the town still plans to open up requests for proposals sometime soon. Madras isn't specifically seeking out established brewers, newbies or investors.

"We’re not really in a position to dictate who we’d like," Snead said. "We really believe there are three types of people interested in opening a brewery here: an expander, an investor, or the dreamer who has a passion project."